Cereal Chem 52:108 - 114.  |  VIEW ARTICLE
Amino Acids in Sound and Ergot-Infected Cereals and Grasses.

Y. Pomeranz, G. S. Robbins, and L. W. Briggle. Copyright 1975 by the American Association of Cereal Chemists, Inc. 

Acid hydrolysates of paired samples of ergot bodies [sclerotia of Claviceps purpurea (Fr.) Tul.] and sound kernels of 11 cereal grains and grasses were analyzed. Each pair contained sclerotia and normal kernels collected from the same plant. The ergot bodies contained, in addition to known amino acids, at least five unidentified ninhydrin-positive compounds. Amount of the major unidentified compond or compounds ranged from trace to 1.37 g. and averaged 0.53 g. per 100 g. total ninhydrin-positive compounds. Kjeldahl- nitrogen was higher in ergot bodies than in sound kernels. Proteins of the sclerotia contained more threonine, lysine, isoleucine, valine, alanine, serine, aspartic acid, and methionine; and less proline, glutamic acid, and cystine than proteins of sound kernels. It is possible that increased amounts of amino acids in sclerotia may be due, in part, to unknown compounds eluted in the same positions as the identified amino acids.